Widespread Panic

For my first post I thought I'd revisit a favorite story of mine from a few years ago.

Thursday, April 17th 7:30pm Constitutuion Hall Washington, D.C. - My first Widespread Panic show. As many of you already know, WP falls under the "Hippie Stoner Jam Music" classification in my book, so you're correct to presume that the ticket was indeed free. My brother procured two tickets from a friend who was unable to attend. Evidently the band doesn't have it's reputation staked in punctuality because despite arriving on time, we were left with the painfully expensive task of sucking down $7 wild turkey shots while waiting for the concert to begin.

In that extra hour, I believe I figured out the origin of their name: "Widespread" because stoned hippies in tye dyes were everywhere and "Panic" because the combined length of the bathroom and booze lines was roughly 17 kilometers. 8:30 arrived and it seemed that WP was ready to take the stage. My brother and I consulted our tickets and began the search. Evidently we were seated in Section: 23, Row: M, Seat: Contact Buzz. Despite being a smoke free venue, the air was perfumed with kindbud. I made friends quickly with the stoner to my left who decided his dancing should not be confined to one seat. In an attempt to decide if I was a narc or simply one week early for the Opera, he offered me a swig from his fifth of Crown Royal. I imbibed and gave him a nod that said, "smoke away."

Now you WP fans might be wondering what songs they played. As far as I can tell, they only played one song that lasted roughly 109 minutes. It was split by an indecently long, one hour intermission that as far as I could tell was simply to allow anyone sobering up a chance to burn one down inside the comfort of their Mystery Machine style hippie vans. The mainstay of the second set was very similar to the first: dancing. In fact, I don't recall anyone around me sitting down ever. When I did take the time to relax, I spent it fantasizing about the cute blonde in front of me, who I'm pretty sure in retrospect was not having a seizure despite evidence to the contrary.

Widespread rocked out solidly until after 11pm and set the pace for what will surely be another two incredible nights at Constitution Hall. The good news is that rumors were spreading that they may actually play a different song every night. Is that enough to get me to attend, sadly I think not. The show reinforced what I've long thought about most concerts, and that is this: buy a twelve pack of PBR, throw three of any bands CD's in the changer, spread a towel down in the backyard and rock out for $6.12 with as many or as few friends as needed. But all in all, I am glad that I ventured out of my element to experience this subculture. No, you won't see me at the show in Philly next week, but guy with the crown royal and girl who danced like Elaine from Seinfeld, you will always be in my heart.